COMPACT Act - Community Partner Resource Hub

What Should We Do if A Veteran Presents to your community emergency department?

1.) Determine:

If the event was an Acute Suicidal Crisis. 

As defined in the COMPACT Act, an Acute Suicidal Crisis means that a trained crisis responder or health care provider determines an individual is at imminent risk of self-harm.

2.) Report:

The Instance of a Veteran Presenting to your Community Emergency Department to the VA.

Reporting can be done in two (2) different ways:

Emergency Care Centralized Notification Center

1. VA's Emergency Care Reporting Portal. Below is a list of information that the VA Emergency Care Reporting Portal Asks for in order to submit a completed request:

Emergency Care Reporting 24/7 Hotline: 

       2. Call the VA's Emergency Care Reporting 24/7 Hotline:

              844-72HRVHA )

3.) Coordinate Follow-on Care:

The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System Emergency Treatment/COMPACT Act Coordinator will engage with you through normal business hours to coordinate care.

An Emergency Treatment Email Account has been established to assist in coordinating with our Community Partners in the VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System region:

VHA541EmergencyTreatment@va.gov 

However, if there is an urgent or emergent need to coordinate care and/or transfer a Veteran to the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, please contact us at:

Period of Care

Emergent suicide care defined by the U.S. Congress within the COMPACT Act to eligible Veterans through inpatient or crisis residential care will not exceed 30 days. If inpatient care is unavailable, or if such care is not clinically appropriate, outpatient care will not exceed 90 days. 

Below are Important Definitions Defined by Congress within the Compact Act that the Department of Veterans Affairs must follow: 

Emergent Suicide Care -

Crisis stabilization care provided to an eligible individual following a recommendation from the Veteran Crisis Line or when such individual has presented at a VA or non-VA facility in an acute suicidal crisis. 

Acute Suicidal Crisis - 

Individual who is determined to be at imminent risk of self-harm by a trained crisis responder or health care provider.

Crisis Stabilization Care - 

Care that ensures, to the extent practicable, immediate safety and reduces: the severity of distress; the need for urgent care; or the likelihood that the severity of distress or need for urgent care will increase during the transfer of that individual from a facility at which the individual has received care for that acute suicidal crisis. 

Crisis Residential Care - 

Emergent suicide care provided in a residential facility other than a hospital (that is not a personal residence) that provides 24-hour medical supervision.